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~ Redemption ~

Today is Easter Sunday!  We remember and celebrate the ultimate redemption of Jesus conquering death and rescuing all who call on His name!  We experience redemption in so many little ways each day...often unnoticed.  I had my own redemption moment while sitting in the church service today.

It was two years ago that we made the bittersweet decision to transition our church plant into the congregation of one of our supporting churches.  It happened right after Easter...in April.  The last Sunday was very emotional for me.  I think I cried through every song the band played that morning!  One song they played was "Broken" by Lifehouse.  The words were truly resonating with me.  I was falling apart.  I had no idea what the future held.  I knew we were on the right path, but that didn't mean I understood it.  Clearly God had called us to plant this church, yet why did He choose not to sustain it?  So many questions whirled in my mind.   

Music can have this funny power over you.  I find that certain songs can almost instantly take me back to a memory.  I kind of have that happen whenever I hear "Broken" on the radio.  I remember standing side by side with my friends on the last Sunday of our church plant - knowing the whole time that everything is about to change!

Flashforward to this morning.  The band began to play and the guitar tune sounded familiar.  The song?  "Broken" by Lifehouse.  Instantly I was transported back to the memory of our church plant.  This time, however, I was able to look around this audotorium filled with people.  We would never be here if it weren't for that moment two years ago.  I looked around and saw literally hundreds and hundreds of people celebrating and worshiping Jesus!  I saw several lives changed for eternity as people prayed to receive Christ this morning.  I found myself praying silently, "Thank You, Jesus."  I was once again brought to a place where I was filled with gratitude for the brokenness that God had allowed us to experience.  God was redeeming it before my eyes! 

This is why when the tough times come, I continue to hold on.  I know there IS healing in His name and He ultimately brings meaning and redemption to it all!

~ A Word ~

I am always so encouraged by the moments in life where I look around and through interactions with others, prayer and reading, I keep getting the same message.  The message is always just what you need to hear or understand at that moment too.  The demands of life can be so exhausting so when I read the following little devotional for today in "Streams in the Desert," I was immensely encouraged.  I hope it lifts your soul today too.

We were under great pressure,...so that we despaired even life...But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Cor. 1:8-9)

Pressed beyond measure; yes, pressed to great length;
Pressed so intensely, beyond my own strength;
Pressed in my body and pressed in my soul,
Pressed in my mind till the dark surges roll.
Pressure from foes, and pressure from dear friends.
Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends.

Pressed into knowing no helper but God;
Pressed into loving His staff and His rod.
Pressed into liberty where nothing clings;
Pressed into faith for impossible things.
Pressed into living my life for the Lord,
Pressed into living a Christ-life outpoured.

The pressure of difficult times makes us value life.  Every time our life is spared and given back to us after a trial, it is like a new beginning.  We better understand its value and thereby apply ourselves more effectively for God and for humankind.  And the pressure we endure helps us to understand the trials of others, equipping us to help them and sympathize with them.

Some people have a shallowness about them.  With their superficial nature, they lightly take hold of a theory or a promise and then carelessly tell of their distrust of those who retreat from every trial.  Yet a man or woman who has experienced great suffering will never do this.  They are very tender and gentle, and understand what suffering really means.  This is what Paul meant when he said, "Death is at work in us" (2 Cor. 4:12).

Trials and difficult times are needed to press us forward.  They work in the way the fire in the hold of a mighty steamship provides energy that moves the pistons, turns the engine, and propels the great vessel across the sea, even when facing the wind and the waves.  A.B. Simpson

~ Thoughts on Community ~

I checked out some books for Jonathan and myself to read over vacation.  I was flipping through one I picked out for him to see if I should renew it.  I found the following quotes as I skimmed very intriguing!  This is from the book, Water from a Deep Well by Gerald L. Sittser.

But it is easy for us to ignore one fundamental truth.  God calls the church to be a community of belonging for broken people.  The church's message matters a great deal, for the truth it proclaims is the precious, eternal message of the gospel.  But the church's "life together," as Dietrich Bonhoeffer called it, matters just as much, for such a community is proof that the gospel still has power to transform people's lives, to heal divisions and to provide a sense of belonging for rootless people.  The world longs to hear the gospel; it also wants to see it in action.

Can the church be renewed?  We must believe it can because it is God's church and it has a great history.  Our knowledge of the early church can point the way.  First, the church can strive to become as inclusive as the early church was, welcoming one and all into a body of believers whose only reason for being together is Jesus Christ.  The church is not - and should not be - an arm of the Republican or Democratic parties, not a country club without a golf course or health club without a pool, not a venue for rock, country or classical music concerts, not even a therapist's office or a twelve-step recovery group.  The church is a community of sinners who have found salvation through Christ, who care deeply for one another as saints in the making, who proclaim in word and deed that God plans to restore the entire world to himself through Jesus Christ.

No community on earth has the network, resources, institutions and motivation the church has.  Its influence reaches everywhere; it operates hundreds of charitable organizations that provide a a wide array of services to the needy; it believes in a message and a way of life that the world needs and wants.  Never before has the church had such opportunities for influence.  The biggest problem it faces is its own complacency and worldliness.

Here church leaders must take charge, not by doing more but by doing less.  They must surrender all desire for political, economic, social and cultural influence in the larger society to devote their energies to enabling the church to become a community of belonging. Church leaders are called to serve the church; the church in turn is called to serve the world.  Harold Korver has served at the same church for thirty-five years...  Above all, he has called the people to become disciples and the church to become a community of belonging for others.  He is not the reason why the church has prospered.  The members are the reason.  They have a caught a vision of what their church can be.  He only pointed in the right direction.  Once the church started moving, there was no turning back.

Great quotes, huh?  I know I am inspired by it!  It reminds me why Catalyst keeps plowing ahead!  We want to be an inclusive community of sinners saved by grace who share this message with the world -particularly our area of the world, Portage county.  We are continually grateful for all the amazing volunteers and people on the team who sacrifice time, money and talents to make this church happen.  This is not just the job of our leader, but for all of us.  I continue to pray that the people of Catalyst can see a piece of the vision in our heads of what we could become.  Like the quote above, "once [Catalyst] starts moving, there is no turning back!"

To hear some stories of life change and sacrifice at Catalyst, go here.

~ 2nd Annual Catalyst Easter Egg Drop ~

This morning Catalyst hosted its 2nd Annual Easter Egg Drop!  Despite begging and pleading with the helicopter pilot to come out, he felt that it was unsafe to fly from Cleveland and back.  :-(  I think Josiah enjoyed it more without the helicopter anyway.  He had so much fun!  He LOVED seeing the Easter Bunny.  The entire time he would watch to see where the bunny was and kept waving to it!

Josiah also just loved being around so many people and seeing all of the kids.  He was running around and squealing with delight!  He had no concept of waiting to go and kept running onto the field and playing.  I just let him because I was pretty confident he wouldn't know enough to actually try and get an egg. 

Then the countdown began...10, 9, 8...or if you are Josiah, you just shout out, "Two!"  We have been working on numbers with him so he thought it was only natural that everyone spontaneously started saying numbers.  LOL.  He seemed to understand the "go!" part and took off!  He didn't exactly hunt for eggs though.   He basically ran a little, jumped up and down and laughed!  Mommy and a couple of nice little boys helped him out so he didn't go home empty-handed.

Afterwards, he surveyed his plunder...

We came home and Josiah was very excited about his eggs.  He immediately took them to his table and began counting and organizing them.  LOL.  This kid cracks me up!

~ Thankful {Day 5} ~

Today I decided to post about being thankful for Life Group.  We meet every Thursday night.  Even though it's at my house tonight and that means I have to do a little cleaning, I am looking forward to it (Steph - I'll try to make sure the bathroom isn't quite as clean this time so you don't hear about it from Jack!  LOL.)!  It is so refreshing for me to know that I will have at least one night a week of adult interaction and conversation (outside my marriage, of course).  I can have a rough day and know that I have something to look forward to by day's end.  The gals in my group have little guys around Josiah's age and so it makes it that much easier for us all to relate and get along.  Sometimes it's crazy (like last week w/ the kids and me with no husband tagging along), but it is still a blast!  Sometimes it is really serious and deep.  Sometimes it's just encouraging and praying for one another.  Regardless, I am always blessed by it in some way.  I noticed a huge difference in my personal life during the time we took off over the holidays.  I am so thankful that God created us to live in community and that I have the opportunity to do that in the context of my Life Group!  Love you guys!  See ya tonight....

ps - to add to yesterday's thanksgiving - I got to feel my little nephew kicking! 

~ Big News - from Jonathan ~

Once again, I am stealing Jonathan's words....

Our Core Team has been praying for tonight (Thursday) for a while now via our members-only email list.  Your prayers have been answered by our great God!

Here's the big news that we want to get out there asap:

The local district of Grace Brethren Churches is excited about what God is doing in Kent through CATALYST.  They want to do something very special for us:

They are giving CATALYST a $10,000 cash gift toward the125 building renovation project!

AND they are challenging us to complete the renovation project in the next 30 days with this incentive: they will match dollar-for-dollar any BE a CATALYST donations up to $5,000 total.

This means we could end up with $20,000 total to finish the125project!!

Gang, this is HUGE. God is doing something in downtown Kent!

~ A Pastor's Wife & Friendship ~

What can I say, I got inspired!  Here are a few thoughts I jotted down.  I may add more posts as I think of it.  So here goes...

1- Please don't automatically assume we are too busy or already have a ton of friendships.  Many pastor's wives I know are craving meaningful friendships and can actually be quite lonely.

2- Please don't make statements like "I never thought I'd be friends with a pastor's wife."  Remember, we are normal people too.

3- Please don't assume we know everything about what is going on in the church.  Often our husbands "protect" us by not telling us about different stressful events.  We also don't know the details of what is happening in each individual ministry.

4- Please don't expect us to be able to go out to eat on a whim.  Most pastors are on a very tight budget and may not be able to afford it.  We may want to when you ask, but it might not be financially feasible. 

5- Please pray for us - our marriage, our walk with God, our parenting, our finances!  This means more than you know!

6- Please don't assume that we get super excited about marrying everyone in the church.  Weddings are high stress events where you have to deal with family dynamics.  Also when you combine pre-marital counseling and rehearsals it is very time consuming.  Please recognize the sacrifice of the pastor and his family and compensate him for his services.  (Please note:  a pastor does see performing weddings as a privilege and enjoys them, but may have to limit them to a few people he is closer to so he is not out every night and weekend)

~ A Pastor's Friends ~

Another post I am stealing from Jonathan.  I agree with a lot on these links.  Maybe it will even inspire me to make my own list for a Pastor's Wife.  Kind of funny because on the Acts 29 Members Forum a few of us planter's wives have been talking about this very subject!

Wow - if you call CATALYST your home church, please take 2 minutes to read these (and thanks to Perry Noble for sharing this!):

Craig Groeschel had two incredible posts dealing with what senior pastors wished the people in their churches knew in regards to becoming friends with their pastor–it’s seriously one of the most incredible things I’ve ever read–here is part one and part two.

~ Thoughts on Exodus ~

The last few weeks at Catalyst have been very refreshing for me.  One reason is that I have had the opportunity to sit in the services (although I always listen to the message via podcast when I miss due to teaching toddlers).  The main reason, however, is simply the Word. 

I love that we don't compromise on Scripture as a church.  We live and believe 2 Timothy 3:16.   That is why we primarily "preach" through books of the Bible rather than focus on topical studies.  I am not saying that there is anything wrong with topical studies.  I am actually doing a topical study in my personal walk with God right now.  Catalyst has done them from time to time as well.  The cool thing about expository preaching however, is that you are forced to deal with the text and cannot escape the gray or uncomfortable portions of the Bible.  I also have LOVED seeing how Jonathan planned to preach through a particular set of verses months in advance and then the events and circumstances at the time of him making final preparations and delivering the message are just what needed to be heard (most frequently within our own house!).  God's sovereignty is such a cool attribute!

Anyhow, I loved the reminders we encountered in Exodus 17 this week.  The chapter is basically divided into two stories that can tell us something about leadership (and a lot of other things too, but my focus is leadership).  The first part of the chapter is when the people of Israel are complaining (once again) to Moses (and God) about not having their needs met.  They are craving the familiar.  What is familiar, even though it is not always what's best for us, is comfortable.   Moses is distraught. Jonathan made the point that in leadership (and ministry), you will always have critics.  I want to take it a step farther.  The people of Israel were more than just critics to Moses.  Moses literally risked HIS LIFE time and again so God could use him to lead the people!  I have to say, in a figurative way, I can understand some of what Moses might have felt. 

I mentioned in a post last week that church planting is HARD!  There have been many decisions beginning with the one to plant that have had huge implications for our life (and the life of our family).  We have made choices (good & bad) at times that have risked provision of even our basic needs (shelter, food, etc.).   We have literally given our hearts and lives to this calling and the people we've been called to.  We (primarily Jonathan) have also had our share of these people we have given our lives to turn to us in grumbling.  Catalyst right now is on the cusp of two transitions (1. new worship leader Jason Bonham - woot!  woot! and 2. renovating a space for our kids to learn about Jesus in a safe environment).  My hope and prayer (and optimistic outlook) is that we can embrace these transitions as a community and not have the result the Israelites had when encountering the unfamiliar.  What was that phrase from a year ago that defines the word Catalyst?  Provoke change?

Back to our previously scheduled programming...Exodus 17.  The second half of the chapter talks about a war between the Israelites and the people under Amalek.  Israel was winning the battle so long as the staff of God in Moses' hands were lifted up.  Eventually, Moses gets tired and his two buddies have to help him keep his hands up.  I see two important points for leaders here.  One is that the point of your ministry needs to be to lift up God and He needs to be a part of what you are doing.  If Jesus isn't in it, you will fail no matter what!  The second point is that even the greatest leaders need support!  They need people standing by their sides lifting their hands up.  It is encounters with this type of support that take the weary, criticism-laden leader and remind him (or her) once again why his (her) sacrifices are worthwhile.  Christ is using it to change lives...FOREVER!

Anyhow, that is how Exodus 17 has been marinating in my soul over the last 24 hours.  How about you?  What has God brought to light through His Word for you this week?  Link me up.  I'd love to hear!

~Great Post by Jonathan ~

I thought this post by Jonathan was so great that I'd put it up here!  What a blessing to receive this email last weekend!!!

I'm blown away by what God is doing through our BEaCATALYST campaign.  We're looking for 100 people & organizations nationwide to partner with us in really reaching people far from God in north-east Ohio in a significant way.

I got this email over the weekend from a blog reader who, it turns out, has been following us for years. I never knew!  She gave $500 to BEaCATALYST - - wow!

I've been an anonymous e-supporter of you and Amber since you were on staff at Oak Pointe, which I attended when I was in graduate school.  I was really interested in what you guys were doing with high schoolers and followed your journey (via your blogs, of course), thinking of you and praying for you often - especially when Josiah was born.   I especially love posts about him and have prayed for him, Kayla, and you in your parenting capacity.

Anyway, now that I've got a "real job" and am actually earning money, I am happy to be able to, at least in a small way, support what you all are doing with Catalyst. As a person who has had ups and downs with her faith -- particularly when I went to college away from home -- and is very turned off by the "fakeness" of many Christians, I think that what you are doing to reach my demographic is so so so important.

You, Amber and Catalyst have a friend and supporter in me.  I love reading about what you're doing (and I think that Josiah is absolutely adorable) and hope that this modest gift can help to further God's plan in Ohio.

The best part of this email?  She is praying.  So cool.